


Till Death Do Us Part

by Lola_Rose_Robins



Series: Ghost Hunters [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Body Horror, Castiel is Jack Kline's Parent, Character Death, Emotionally Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), Fire, Gen, Ghost Hunters, Ghosts, Hunters & Hunting, Hurt, Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), Hurt No Comfort, Minor Jack Kline Content, Not Beta Read, Sad Castiel (Supernatural), Sad Ending, Sorry Not Sorry, ghost children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27355945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lola_Rose_Robins/pseuds/Lola_Rose_Robins
Summary: The Winchesters and Castiel went on a ghost-hunt. It turns out to be a bit more severe than they had anticipated.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Series: Ghost Hunters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997905
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

It was a hunt like any other, a milk run, as Dean would call it.

Severely haunted house in some suburb, idiot teenagers going in and consequently dying, perfect case to pass some time this weekend. Just a quick salt and burn. Thank Chu- Someone for True Crime and Supernatural podcasts, providing them with all the names and data they needed to resolve this issue quickly.

It was just the three of them; Sam, Dean, and Cas. They’d left Jack at the bunker with Jody.

———

They entered the house at around 6pm, with about 3 more hours left to live…

It was still light out and the house was quite luxurious, with large windows that allowed the sunlight to stream in, everything basked in the soft orange glow. The centre of the house was occupied by a large, spiralling staircase, and the stained glass dome in the roof cast colourful patterns on the walls and floor. The stair and bannister were carved from different coloured woods that spiralled around each other; white, red, black, brown. Small figures were expertly carved into the wood, depicting all sorts of fairy tales and legends.

If it hadn’t been for the scratches on the floor, left behind by nails, and the occasional dark stain, this house would’ve made for a perfect home, but sadly it was haunted.

“Okay, so; Walter and Nellie White, died in the house in 1887. Both were cremated, but their spirits still haunt the house they built. Rumour has it they’re still tied to their favourite items from their life,” Sam spoke as the three of them ascended the stairs, marvelling at the beautiful colours and carvings that littered the area.

“And what were those items,” Cas asked from his position halfway up the wall, where he was closely inspecting a fading mural that seemed to depict a garden of sorts. Invisible wings caused a slight breeze that kept blowing Sam’s hair in his face.

Sam tried to maintain eye contact as he answered, but Cas was too high up and his neck was truly hurting by now, so Sam lowered his gaze and rolled his neck and shoulders for a bit, before answering, “story goes that there’s a stuffed animal somewhere in the house, but every time someone visits the house to investigate, it’s in a different room. Sounds like that might be one of our items. There’s also an old cigar case that seems to be surrounded by strange activity.”

“But wasn’t there more than two ghosts in here,” Dean asked from the bottom of the stairs.

“Yeah, apparently all those kids that died here are still trapped. Nellie and Walter refuse to let them go.”

Just a quick salt and burn. Find the items, gank the ghosts, release the kids. Easy as pie.

They had already searched the downstairs area, but it wasn’t much more than an indoor parking garage, which still contained some old carriages and vintage cars, a small supply closet, and of course the large centre room which contained the stairs.

The first room they entered, once they’d all reached the second floor, appeared to be an office. The room was spacious and the walls were lined with bookshelves that contained books and small trinkets and statues. A large desk with a typewriter on it sat abandoned by a wall. Most of the floor was covered in a soft, mattress-like material. Before Sam could stop him, Dean had already let himself fall onto it backwards, stirring up a cloud of dust. Both brothers coughed a few times and Sam shot Dean his best bitchface, while the other just grinned at him like a doofus.

“C’mon, Sammy, don’t be such a little bitch, Come look at this.”

Sam reluctantly lowered himself onto the floor, surprised at how comfortable and well-maintained the material was after so many years. He looked up and was met with quite a sight. The entire ceiling was painted like a world-map; accurate, colourful. From his laying down position, Sam could see almost the entire map without having to move his head around too much.

“Damn,” was all he could say in the moment.

“Damn,” Dean repeated.

They spent a few minutes staring up at the map, marvelling at the accuracy and continuously finding new details to point out. When they got up again, they noticed Cas in the doorway, staring at something across the room. They both followed his gaze and landed on a small figure sitting on the windowsill. The young boy stared at them with wet eyes, a small smile played around his lips. The kid was short, skinny, couldn’t have been older than 13. Even in death, they could still see the tan of his skin and the colours of the beads and strings that were woven into his long dark hair. The kid really seemed to like bright colours, as his outfit also contained a multitude of colours that should have clashed but somehow didn’t.

Sam slowly got to his feet to approach the boy, but the kid jumped onto the ground and dashed away, straight through a wall.

——

The second room they entered was the master bedroom, spacious like the study had been, but less cluttered. An Alaskan King size bed stood against the far wall and the space underneath it was filled with drawers of all shapes and sizes. The bed was made, covered with a soft, pink-white-and-blue blanket, looking like a renaissance painting of clouds. It looked so innocent, so peaceful, but according to police reports, this is where the bodies of the dead children had been found, all in different stages of decay, depending on how long they’d been there. They’d all been tucked in, as if they’d just been asleep, by some mysterious force, most likely their killer. A large fireplace is embedded into the wall on the left.

Sam walks over to the bed and pulls back the covers. The sheets have dark stains on them, a stark contrast to the pristine white that surrounds them. With the help of Dean and Cas, he removes the sheets and tosses them into the fireplace, where Cas lights them with a snap of his fingers. Just in case any of the kids were still tethered to them. A soft sigh in the distance, followed by a weak gust of wind, confirmed that at least one spirit has managed to move on.

_One hour had passed, two more to go._

The bathroom was large, just like everything else in the house. The walls and floor were covered insmall, pastel-coloured tiles and the ceiling looked like it had once been a mirror. There wasn’t much of interest in the room, safe for the teenage girl hiding behind a clawfoot bathtub, her dyed black hair obscuring half of her face. The chains on her jacket and jeans jangled as she sprinted into the shower and through the wall behind it.

When they stepped out of the bathroom and back into the hallway, they were met by a young girl, staring at them from a cocoon of bedsheets that hung from the next floor up. She wore some soft grey sweats and a bright blue shirt depicting a top hat and some juggling balls. When Cas tried to approach her, she swiftly rolled out of the cocoon and climbed up the sheets and onto the next floor. Dean gently placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him from going after her. They had more important ghosts to find, the others would follow soon after.

The next room they found was a library, and they decided to take some time to look around. Who knows, maybe they’d find some interesting books to take home. Not like anyone would miss them. When they left the room, Sam’s bag was at least seven books heavier, and Cas’ trench coat was hanging a bit more to one side under the weight of a large, mysterious book he’d stuffed in his pocket, without allowing anyone to see what it was.

_Two hours had passed, one more to go._

The other rooms on the second floor were empty. There was the occasional child that jut stared at them for a while before dashing through a wall, but apart from that, there was nothing.

Finally, the boys made their way to the top floor, the attic.

The attic was a large, open, donut-shaped room. Bannisters surrounded the large circular hole in the centre of the house, the space that contained the staircase. The bright colours from the glass dome now cast patterns on the dark wooden floor of the attic as the light from the setting sun slowly faded away. The rest of the space was shrouded in darkness, with the occasional ghastly shimmer of wet eyes staring back at the Winchesters.

The three hunters walked around the centre of the room, all the way to the opposite side. A large window looked out over the neighbourhood, the branches of a large tree moved in the breeze, softly tapping against the glass.

_Thirty minutes._

In front of the large window were a small, stuffed, lion toy and an antique cigar box, both sitting on a low stone table. Two figures sat on opposite sides of the table, the first adults they’d seen in this place, they must’ve been the Whites, Walter and Nellie. The two spirits looked over at them and smiled kindly, raising their hands as if they were holding small teacups. They looked sweet, nothing at all like what Dean had expected a set of child murderers to look like, but then, you never know, do you.

The Winchester brothers walked over to the small table, picking up the two haunted items, Walter and Nellie let them. Dean fished a bottle of lighter fluid out of his pocket and opened it, Walter and Nellie continued smiling. Dean doused the two items in lighter fluid and places them back onto the table. No reaction.

_Fifteen minutes._

Cas walked over to the window, trying to find a way to open it to allow the smoke to go out. A small child, a toddler, sat by the window and looked up at him with wet eyes. Cas knelt down and reached out, finding the spirit surprisingly solid. The skin felt cold under his fingers, and when he wiped at the tears, all he was left with was salt, like the tears had dried up suddenly.

Sam took a box from his pocket and lit a match. Walter and Nellie turned to face each other and both joined hands across the table, smiling sadly at each other.

Sam lit the fire.

_Zero._

Walter and Nellie disappeared in flames as soon as the items were lit.

High-pitched shrieks sounded from the shadows. Before they realised what was happening, the children had dashed out of the darkness and were quickly coming closer, their faces contorted into expressions of rage. Rather than attack Sam and Dean, however, the spirits went over to the table, piling into the small flame, stoking the fire.

Cas felt the glass breaking behind him as he crashed through the window. The air rushed around him as he was flung through the air, it almost felt like he was flying backwards. He felt his vessel’s spine shatter as his back hit something hard, a tree, and felt the bones shift into all sorts of awkward positions as he hit the ground below. After that, there was only darkness.

When Castiel awoke from his slumber, the first thing he noticed was the soreness of his body, the second thing was a severe lack of haunted buildings in his direct surroundings. What _was_ there, was a pile of charred rubble and a thick layer of ashes that coated everything in the area, including Castiel himself. It vaguely reminded him of snow, but it was the height of summer, not the ideal time for snow.

Cas slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, wincing every time the loose bones scraped against one another. He was having some trouble sitting upright in his vessel, barely able to hold himself upright he slumped back against the large tree.

As he sat there, his eyes closed, he searched around for his grace, finding it hiding out deep down. He quickly put it to work on his bones.

He was healing, but it was slow, too slow.

When at last his spine and legs had healed enough to support his body weight, Cas slowly dragged himself to his feet and stumbled over to the burnt remains of the house. Every step caused a shooting pain to travel through his entire body, but he persevered, he had to find Sam and Dean. They were the Winchesters for Dad’s sake, they could have survived, there was still hope.

Castiel allowed his grace to guide him towards Dean, they’d always had their Profound Bond, which did come with some perks. The trace led him to a small pile of rubble, which his grace quickly made work of, he didn’t care too much about the pieces of rubble that flew through the air mere inches from his face.

Finally he found the Winchesters, or rather; he found a pair of charred, burnt bodies, barely recognisable anymore. Their skin, in the places that still had skin, had bubbled up and was charred black, in some places bones were visible. Their boots were still mostly intact, but the rest of their clothes had all been burned away. The bigger of the two bodies, Sam, was still holding a piece of red, plaid fabric in his hand, where he had grabbed Dean by the sleeve, in the way a younger sibling seeks comfort from an older sibling. Cas felt his eyes sting as he stood numbly over the brothers’ charred remains, unable to tear his eyes off of them.

The scent of burning flesh filled his nose as he sank to his knees.

He barely even noticed he was crying until a loud wail startled him, which had seemingly come from his own mouth. He carefully places a hand on Dean’s burnt shoulder. It was still warm, and if he closed his eyes, he could pretend he was still feeling healthy, living tissue. He sat by the brother’s sides until the sound of sirens had come too close for comfort and he was forced to leave, as to not get caught.

Castiel watched from a distance as the Winchesters’ burnt remains were loaded into the ambulance, he watched until they had driven out of sight. Then he walked over to the spot where they had parked the Impala just five hours prior and almost got into the backseat before realising his mistake and walking around to the driver’s seat.

He allowed the Impala to drive itself as he stared off into nothingness, still too numb to fully process what had happened.

When Baby had pulled into her standard parking spot, Cas remained in his seat. He barely registered when he was pulled out of the car by Jack, who started to excitedly tell their dad about what they’d been up to, but whose excitement quickly died down and made place for worry. Cas didn’t notice when Jody pulled him into a tight hug and helped him get to his room and into sleepwear. He let her tuck him in to bed, where he immediately turned to face the wall.

After a few hours, Cas felt the mattress dip slightly, and Jack’s arms pull their dad into a comforting hug. Castiel tried to hide the tears that were now streaming down his face, but it was challenging to hide the vibrations that ran through his body as he cried. He soon gave up trying and turned around, pulling his kid closer. The angel and the nephilim fell asleep as they cried into each other’s shoulders.

Sam and Dean Winchester were dead.


	2. Morning Sunshine!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Return of the Winchesters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a short chapter, but I'm struggling with the plot. I'll get there eventually...

“Sammy, wake up.”

Sam heard his brother’s voice cry out excitedly as he was being shaken awake.

“Wha-“

“We’re back at the bunker, guess we must have passed out after that explosion and Cas drove us home,” Dean looked around, “speaking of, where is our favourite angel?”

The brothers stepped out of the car and, after Dean gave her an affectionate little pat on the roof, they made their way into the bunker.

“What the hell happened here,” Sam asked as they walked into the first hallway. The lighting was dim, as most of the lightbulbs had burst or burned through, the only sources of light were the softly glowing wires and the occasional emergency lamp. As they made their way through the bunker, they noticed that the lighting situation was much the same in the other parts of their home. They would have thought a fight had gone down, if it hadn’t been for the pristine condition of the rest of the home, though a thin layer of dust covered most surfaces. They checked the bedrooms as they passed them, all were empty, so were the library, the infirmary and the map room. After a long search, they finally found Cas, jack and Jody asleep in the kitchen. Jody was still sat in her chair, leaning against the wall, Jack was slumped forwards onto the table and Cas had passed out on the floor, curled up into a ball.

Dean went over to wake them up, but Sam stopped him and pointed at the assortment of empty bottles and glasses on the table and floor.

What had possessed their family to get drunk enough to pass out and not invite Dean? Who cares if he’d been shaken up a bit, he definitely could’ve used a drink too.

But for some reason the Winchesters hadn’t been invited, that was okay, totally fine, still didn’t mean they could just let their family sleep like this, they’d wake up hurting all over and that was unacceptable. Dean scooped Castiel into his arms as Sam lifted Jack and Jody, together they walked over to the bedrooms and placed the drunks into their respective beds, making sure to tuck them in, before heading to the kitchen to get properly drunk themselves.

There wasn’t much left, the others had really gone all out, and Dean made a mental note to go into town to buy more tomorrow. Still, they managed to find one more half full bottle of whiskey, that should do.

——

Before they knew it, the morning had arrived. The first to stumble into the kitchen was Cas.

“Heya, Cas! Had a late one last night then? Coffee’s fresh,” Dean chirped, smiling internally at Cas’ miserable look, undoubtedly caused by his hangover.

Castiel stopped dead in his tracks, with an expression that almost looked like shock on his face, but the shock quickly ebbed away and left Cas staring at them with an empty look on his face, before heading over to the coffee machine, completely ignoring them.

Dean turned to face Sam with a fake offended expression, Sam just smiled back.

Cas sat down next to Dean and sipped his coffee, still ignoring the both of them. Dean leaned in a bit and waved his hand in front of his face, “Hellooooo, sunshine. Can’t even say good morning anymore? You’re acting like we’re not even here,” he tried, but got no response. “Fine, your funeral.”

Sam, Dean and Cas drank their coffee in silence.

A sudden gasp, accompanied by the low thud of a book being dropped on the floor, broke the tense silence that had fallen between them. Jody had woken up and was now standing in the doorway with a shocked expression on her face.

“Hey, Jody!” Sam called out excitedly, to which Jody responded by slumping against the doorframe and sinking to the floor, still looking just as shocked as before.

This apparently got a reaction out of Cas, who suddenly sat up straight and called out to Jody, “Wait, you’re seeing them too‽”

What? What did that mean, why wouldn’t Jody be able to see them, they were sitting right there. Dean looked over to his little brother, who looked like he was thinking deeply about something, he could practically see the moment the dime dropped, Sam had figured out what was happening, he always does. “Are we, dead?” Sam asked out loud, to Dean’s surprise. Of course they weren’t dead, they would’ve remembered something like that. Right?

Well, apparently they didn’t, because both Cas and Jody nodded.

Sam and Dean Winchester were dead…even worse, they were ghosts.

Sam sank deeper into his chair with an exasperated sigh, “wow.” It wasn’t very wordy, but it perfectly conveyed Dean’s current emotion, _wow._


	3. Ghost-Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's go on a hunt, they said. It'll be fun, they said.

Dean was cornered, unarmed and hurt. The beasts slowly inched closer and closer, dead eyes glinting in the little light that shone through the window, their fangs dripped with poison. The biggest of the three took a step aside to allow their pup to come forward. The youngling rose up on its hind legs and prepared to strike, growing out its claws, the bony outside of their body stood in stark contrast to the darkness beyond. The pup swung its claw towards Dean, heading straight for his head, and phasing right through him. The young creature looked as confused as a monster could look, falling back to all fours and leaning in to curiously sniff at the human’s face.

Dean mustered up all the energy he could gather in his body, picking his gun up from the floor. He swung the gun at the pup, knocking it to the floor, unconscious, before emptying the magazine into the three adults. They fell to the floor, their bodies hitting the ground with the loud sound of bone on concrete.

Dean got to his feet again and left the room. The whole ordeal had been rather exhausting, so he left the gun on the ground. Outside the old factory building he met up with the others. Sammy was unscathed, similarly to Dean, but Cas’ coat was soaked in blood and dirt, and several holes marked the places where the creatures had come too close for comfort. The angel looked pretty miserable, still, Dean couldn’t help but laugh.

Cas shot him a fiery glare, as he shrugged the coat off and inspected his body for any major injuries. When he’d found nothing, he put the coat back on and snapped it back to its original state.

The Winchesters stepped into the Impala, with Cas behind the wheel. It had been one of the more drastic adjustments in their life, or afterlife, but it wouldn’t be safe for anyone to have an exhausted spirit driving them around, so Dean would just have to deal with it.

The way back was mostly uneventful, they sang along badly to whatever was on the radio, only stopping to get gas, since none of them had to eat or sleep anymore. Afterlife was good.

About halfway home they took a small break, because Cas had seen a large pond in the city’s park and wanted to go look at the fishes. As the two brothers sat on a large rock, watching their angel run along the shoreline, they thought about what the future would hold for them.

They had been dead for three years now, but most people didn’t know that. The only people that knew were Cas, Jack and Jody. To the other hunters, they were just the Winchesters, still hunting monsters like they’ve always done, always will do. Sure, they’d needed to change a few things in their afterlives, most importantly Dean could no longer drive the Impala, but they also needed Cas around to deal with the whole salt and iron thing. They weren’t too concerned about getting ghost-Alzheimer’s, since Castiel helped sustain their memories and occasionally used his grace to increase their strength. It wouldn’t take too long to get them powerful enough to function like humans again. Just a few more months.

A softly hummed tune in the distance broke the silence that hung in the cool night air. The sound was still far enough away to not warrant an immediate reaction, yet it was strange to hear a human awake at this time of night. The humming swiftly came closer, now accompanied by heavy footsteps, someone was coming and they were heading straight towards them.

“Cas,” Dean spoke softly, knowing the angel would hear him no matter how loud he’d say it, he _was_ a celestial being after all. The angel looked up at the same time a tall, lanky figure came stalking out from between the buildings on the west side of the park, closest to the pond. The figure was too shrouded in shadows to see many details, but Dean noticed it was wearing a tight, one-piece suit and had pale skin and large leather boots.

Dean and the creature made eye-contact and it smiled at him, a bit too widely. The creature spoke something, its deep voice rumbling across the field. Dean could clearly understand its words, even though it was still technically outside earshot, “Where are you going?”

Dean felt his skin go cold, not that it had been warm before, and quickly glanced over at Sammy to make sure he was alright. Suddenly Castiel was behind them, with his hands on their shoulders. The next thing they knew, they were in the Impala, speeding away. The sound of footsteps echoed behind them, speeding up. The creature was running after them, faster than any human should run, but thankfully still slower than a car. It was still fast though, and they only managed to lose it after they’d already left the city, almost like it couldn’t leave, like it was trapped.

Sam decided he wanted to do some research into the creature, so soon the silence was filled with Sam’s voice, dictating to his computer what it needed to write down. The sound of his voice had a calming effect and after they’d left the city and its monsters far behind, Castiel finally relaxed his shoulders. Dean turned to face him, “What the hell was that?”

Cas’ face was serious, “I don’t know, but it felt dangerous,” he briefly caught Dean’s eyes, “to you.”

“Well we can’t just leave it be, it could seriously hurt someone,” Sam’s voice piped up from the backseat. He’d apparently found multiple reports on strange deaths in the area, with multiple witnesses claiming they heard a man humming and heavy footsteps running in the street.

“We’ll send some other hunters to check it out,” Dean responded. He’d noticed how genuinely concerned Cas looked and knew he should trust the angel’s judgement, at least about this.

**Author's Note:**

> Well that was a depressing end to a story...but no worries, I'm writing a continuation, if not for y'all, then for me (even I need a happy end every once in a while, or as happy as it can get).


End file.
